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Monday, December 23, 2013

Catherine Opie (born 1961) is an American artist specializing in issues within documentary photography

Catherine
Opie (born 1961 in Sandusky, Ohio) is
an American artist specializing in issues within
documentary photography. Opie is currently a professor of Photography
at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).[

Education

Opie
obtained a master's degree from California Institute of the
Arts School of Art in 1988. She currently lives in Los
Angeles.

Themes
in work

Opie's
work is characterized by a combination of formal concerns, a variety
of printing technologies, references to art history, and
social/political commentary. An example of formal concerns include
addressing issues of the horizon line in the "ice house"
and "surfer" series. She has printed photographs using
chromochrome, iris prints, Polaroids, and silver photogravure.
Examples of art history references include the use of bright color
backgrounds in portraits which reference the work of Hans Holbein and
the full body frontal portraits that reference August Sander. A
common social/political theme in her work is the concept of
community. Opie has investigated aspects of community, making
portraits of many groups including LGBT community; surfers;
and most recently high school football players. Opie is interested in
how identities are shaped by our surrounding architecture. Her work
is informed by her identity as an out lesbian. Her works balance
personal and political. Her assertive portraits bring queers to
a forefront that is normally silenced by societal norms.